Before the current crisis, the Central African Republic (CAR), a landlocked country lying in the middle of the African continent, was already one of the poorest nations on earth, with a GNI per capita of US$471 per year.
... See More + Since early 2013, the country has experienced a massive political security conflagration, creating an unprecedented humanitarian crisis which unraveled the country’s social fabric, displaced over twenty five percent of its 4.7 million population and resulted in significant economic contraction. The crisis has prompted a large-scale international response, including peacekeeping interventions from African Union (AU), France, European Union and now United Nations (UN) forces as well as concomitant emergency relief by UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). At the same time, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) is shepherding a political initiative that has included the installation of a transitional government leading to anticipated national elections by end-2015. This strategy is comprised of two phases: (i) support to stabilization: using the existing IDA portfolio and the frontloading of all of the IDA-17 allocation to assist international efforts to break the cycle of violence, maintain confidence in the fragile transition and put in place the basic elements of crisis recovery; and (ii) preliminary support to recovery and development: resuming those operations that have been on standby, undertaking analytical and advisory assistance that will lay the foundations for a ‘turn-around’ application under IDA-17, based on a best-case scenario of peaceful elections, improved security and a reform-minded government. This will allow the World Bank to make a contribution in addressing the longer-term underlying challenges associated with the country’s chronic vulnerability.
See Less -

The objective of the Londo (Stand-Up) Project for Central African Republic is to provide temporary employment to vulnerable people throughout the entire territory of the country.
... See More + There are four components to the project, the first component being local governance. This component will first finance rapid development assessments at the level of sous-prefectures across the country to gather necessary data for successful development interventions: governance, security, social dynamics, economy, and logistics. These development assessments will complement the ‘Rapid Response Mechanism’ diagnostics of the humanitarian community and can be shared with other public agencies and development partners. The second component is the public infrastructure. This component will finance all works-related expenses except stipends to beneficiaries for the preparation, execution, and supervision of the works selected under component one. The third component is the socio-economic integration. This component will sponsor the development of a community maintenance system (cantonnage communal) to promote the sustainability of the investment, in terms of both jobs and roads. Tools and equipment (signage, wheelbarrows, etc.) will be transferred to local authorities (mairies), which will also benefit from technical assistance; protective equipment (gloves, boots, etc.) is kept by beneficiaries at the end of their assignment, including the bicycles provided to workers as a means of transportation to and from work sites. Finally, the fourth component is the project management. This component will cover all costs related to the management and coordination of the project, in particular the creation and maintenance of a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation (ME) system. This will also include communication at the national level with beneficiaries and all other stakeholders involved in the project, including line ministries, international partners like MINUSCA, and civil society organizations.
See Less -

The Health System Support Project for the Central African Republic will increase utilization and improve the quality of maternal and child health services in targeted rural areas of the recipient’s territory and also provide emergency health services to the general population.
... See More + Additional financing will reorient interventions under the Health System Support Project towards rebuilding the health system and strengthening health service delivery in CAR. This will be achieved through Performance-Based Contracting (PBC) for implementation of a combination of Performance-Based Financing (PBF) and other interventions to rebuild the health system and reinforce the delivery of essential health services. The additional financing will: a) Support the scaling-up of results-based interventions for the strengthening of health service delivery in areas affected by the socio-political crisis through Performance-Based Contracting under Component 1 of the project; b) Strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) in the delivery of maternal and child health services and monitoring and evaluation (ME) systems under Component 2 of the project; and c) Support the provision of emergency health services to the population affected by the crisis, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and vulnerable groups under Component 3 of the project. Along with other development partners, through the additional financing the project aims to transition from emergency relief towards system strengthening interventions that will not only provide immediate support for the provision of maternal and child health services in areas affected by the crisis (provision of drugs, equipment, staffing and rehabilitation of health structures), but also provide investments in the health sector that would lead to long-term improvements in results (through PBC and PBF).
See Less -

The objective of the Additional Financing of the Emergency Public Services Response Project for Central African Republic is to re-establish an operational government payroll and related financial management systems.
... See More + The additional financing is requested at a sensitive and critical period for the CAR. Legislative and presidential elections are scheduled to take place before the term of the current transitional government ends in August 2015. During this sensitive transition, assuring the payment of salaries to public servants is critical. Although there have been encouraging improvements in domestic revenue mobilization, a fiscal gap remains, and the World Bank’s continuing support to fund civil service salaries will be essential in order to maintain gains in core government functions and basic EPSRP-initiated service delivery. Therefore, the additional grant will finance the: (a) Government of CAR recurrent costs for eligible civil servants of the non-security sectors; and (b) continuation of technical assistance activities to scale up the achievements of the EPSRP on: (i) strengthening the revenue-generating directorates; (ii) supporting the integrity of the payroll and physical verification of civil servant attendance; and (iii) consolidation of basic controls over the expenditure chain and cash management of public finances. These activities are expected to increase the project’s overall impact and development outcomes and further support the Government in gaining additional fiscal space.
See Less -